Sacramento ties heat records 2 days in a row. Is cooler weather or rain on the way?
Sacramento has already tied two daily heat records this week, but don’t go busting out the shorts and flip-flops just yet.
A high of 74 degrees Tuesday topped Monday’s 73-degree reading at Sacramento Executive Airport, and both marks matched all-time highs for Feb. 10 and Feb. 11 that were set in 1988, according to the National Weather Service. The average max temperature for each date is 60 degrees.
A reading of 75 degrees Tuesday in downtown Sacramento also tied a record set in 1988, and the grid reached 73 degrees Monday as well, one tick shy of a record set in — you guessed it — 1988.
You won’t confuse this mid-February hot spell for summer, though, if you’ve been outside at night or in the morning. Temperatures in Sacramento fluctuated nearly 40 degrees Tuesday, from the high of 74 down to a low of 37, according to NWS preliminary data. Monday also saw the low temperature plunge to 39 degrees.
And despite a 69-degree high in Wednesday’s forecast, the capital city was still sitting at 37 degrees as of 7:30 a.m., NWS readings show.
The latest forecasts show the steady pattern, of seasonably warm daytime highs and chilly overnight lows, continuing through the weekend. Sacramento is expected to see highs in the mid- to upper-60s, plus nighttime temps in the low 40s, through Sunday, with mostly clear skies and calm winds.
Any rain in sight for Northern California?
It looks like there’s only a slim chance of light precipitation through the start of next week, as a very dry month of February continues for Northern California.
As The Sacramento Bee reported Tuesday, a high-pressure ridge lingering over the Pacific Ocean has kept the rain away from the region, according to UCLA climate scientist Daniel Swain.
Sacramento has received no rain so far in February, a month that has historically averaged 3.69 inches. The one-week outlook by the National Weather Service shows just a slight chance of light showers between about 4 a.m. and 10 a.m. Sunday, followed by mostly sunny weather the rest of the day.
